Bulls Sign Marco Belinelli
TUESDAY, 3:03pm: The Bulls have officially signed Belinelli, the team announced today in a press release.
MONDAY, 5:16pm: Belinelli's deal has been agreed to and is for one year at the bi-annual exception of $1.96MM, sources told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).
2:02pm: The Bulls and Belinelli are finalizing details on a one-year deal that would pay Belinelli a little under $2MM (Chicago's bi-annual exception), according to Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. An international report suggested the contract would be for two years, so we'll have to wait to see what the two sides work out.
FRIDAY, 3:16pm: Marco Belinelli and the Bulls appear to be in "advanced talks," according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (via Twitter). Kennedy cautions that nothing is imminent yet, but the Bulls figure to be seeking a two guard to replace the departed Ronnie Brewer.
According to Kennedy, Belinelli and the Bulls may be talking about a deal involving the bi-annual exception, though using the BAE would create a hard cap for the Bulls this season. The club is already well over the cap, and when it reached an agreement with Kirk Hinrich, it was for the $3.09MM taxpayer mid-level exception rather than the full $5MM mid-level exception.
That's not to say that the Bulls couldn't still access the full MLE and the BAE — the team hasn't passed the tax apron yet, so those exceptions are still available. But using them would mean the team would be forced to keep its payroll below the apron (about $74MM) for the rest of the season, and it would almost certainly mean letting Omer Asik walk. If the Bulls hoped to land Belinelli without introducing that hard cap, they would have to work out a sign-and-trade or get 26-year-old to accept a minimum-salary deal.
Earlier this week, Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld named the Bulls, Magic, Warriors, and Knicks as potential suitors for Belinelli, while Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com reiterated Chicago's interest in the former Hornet yesterday.
Rockets Sign Omer Asik
2:48pm: The Rockets have officially added Asik, the team announced in a press release.
11:58am: The Bulls have officially declined to match Asik's offer sheet with the Rockets, tweets Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. As a result, Houston will land Asik for three years and $25.1MM. Like Jeremy Lin's contract was, Asik's cap hit will be spread evenly across the three years, rather than being severely backloaded.
JULY 24TH, 11:27am: The Bulls will officially announce later today that they won't be matching Asik's offer sheet, says K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
Free Agent Rumors: Landry, Thomas, Mason
A few more free agents have come off the board today, as A.J. Price and Pablo Prigioni finalized deals with the Wizards and Knicks respectively, while Ronnie Brewer was among the players to agree to a new contract, reaching a deal with the Knicks. With a number of available players still on the market though, here's a round-up of a few of the day's assorted free agent rumors:
- The Hornets have renounced Carl Landry's Bird Rights, making a sign-and-trade difficult to work out, writes Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld. The Bobcats were interested in a sign-and-trade deal for Landry, but New Orleans would need to get back under the cap to have room to make it work.
- Malcolm Thomas, who was named to the All-Summer League team, is drawing interest from a number of teams, including the Clippers, Bulls, Hawks, and Bobcats, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
- Former Lakers second-rounder Patrick Beverley is seeking an NBA job, having worked out for the Bulls, Cavs, and Rockets this offseason. Agent Kevin Bradbury tells Scott Powers of ESPNChicago.com that he thinks his client would be a good fit in Chicago: "He plays defense and does what’s asked of him. He fits the Bulls’ system. I think that’s intriguing for the Bulls. He really respects [Tom Thibodeau]."
- The Wizards have interest in bringing back Roger Mason, but Mason isn't looking to sign a one-year, minimum-salary deal, says Michael Lee of the Washington Post. The veteran guard has also received interest from the Thunder, Hornets, Bulls, and Lakers.
Odds & Ends: Lin, Bulls, Cavs, Nuggets
The craze of Linsanity dominated the pages of Hoops Rumors for several months and extended into the offseason, where the Rockets unexpectedly managed to pry Jeremy Lin away from the Knicks. Lin admitted to Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group that in some ways, the hoopla went to his head. However, Lin believes that he is now well-equipped to deal with the hype and isn't concerned about living up to it in Houston. Here's a look at tonight's news from around the Association..
- The Bulls bench has gotten a complete overhaul this summer, writes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com. Chicago appears set to sign Nazr Mohammed to replace Omer Asik and reached agreement with Marco Belinelli on a one-year deal earlier this evening.
- The trade rumors surrounding a blockbuster three-way trade involving the Cavs, Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum have quieted down, and Bob Finnan of the News-Herald doesn't expect the deal to go down this summer. Meanwhile, the Magic have told rival execs that they might not trade Howard at all.
- While some clubs seem to be putting all of their eggs in the basket of landing one or two mega-stars, the Nuggets are busy building a franchise their own way, writes Zach Lowe of Sports Illustrated. GM Masai Ujiri would love to land a top-ten talent, but the team is in position to be competitive regardless. I would argue that the new-look Nets are also following a similar gameplan.
The Bulls And The Salary Cap
Based on recent reports indicating that the Bulls have signed Kirk Hinrich for $8MM over two years, and are close to a deal with Marco Belinelli worth the bi-annual exception, the outlook for the Bulls' 2012/13 cap has changed. Because they've decided to use the BAE and exceed the $3.09MM mid-level allotted to taxpaying teams, the Bulls will now have a hard cap for the coming season. At no point before next July will the club be permitted to exceed about $74.3MM in team salary.
For a better idea of what this means for Chicago, let's check out the team's known salary commitments to date:
- Derrick Rose: $15,506,632
- Carlos Boozer: $15,000,000
- Luol Deng: $13,305,000
- Joakim Noah: $11,300,000
- Richard Hamilton: $5,000,000
- Taj Gibson: $2,155,811
- Jimmy Butler: $1,066,920
Already, the total cost of those seven players brings the Bulls' payroll to $63,334,363, leaving about another $11MM to spend. The team will need to fit in contracts for Hinrich, Belinelli, Vladimir Radmanovic, Nazr Mohammed, and Marquis Teague, so let's take our best shot at calculating the total cap hit for those figures:
- Kirk Hinrich: $3,900,000
- Marco Belinelli: $1,957,000
- Marquis Teague: $1,028,400
- Vladimir Radmanovic: $854,389
- Nazr Mohammed: $854,389
We can't be sure these numbers are 100% correct — Hinrich's first-year salary is an estimate based on his reported total, and in the case of Belinelli and Teague, I'm assuming they receive, respectively, the full bi-annual exception and 120% of the rookie scale amount. The league will cover a portion of Radmanovic's and Mohammed's veteran-minimum deals, reducing their cap hit slightly, but these figures still amount to $8,594,178. Add that to the aforementioned total and we're up to $71,928,541 overall. That would leave just $2,378,459 for the Bulls to spend before next July, which will make it challenging to bring aboard replacement players if the team has any injury problems.
Again, we don't know with absolute certainty what the Bulls' books look like, and the reported figures for free agent signings could be slightly off — not only that, but the Belinelli and Mohammed deals haven't even been finalized yet. Based on the numbers we know so far though, it appears Chicago isn't giving itself much wiggle room or roster flexibility for the coming season.
A hard cap would mean that the team absolutely can't match the Rockets' offer sheet for Omer Asik, though that was looking extremely doubtful anyway. It would also mean that the Bulls likely wouldn't be in a position to use their $5MM trade exception (acquired from the Hawks for Kyle Korver) until next July, when the hard cap is lifted.
Perhaps the cap restrictions facing the Bulls won't ultimately matter a whole lot, in a season in which expectations have been lowered due to Derrick Rose's health. While the Bulls' decisions could make it difficult to add salary in 2012/13, it won't affect cap flexibility in future seasons, when the club could be in better position to make a title run.
Storytellers Contracts was used in the creation of this post.
Bulls Sign Kirk Hinrich
1:37pm: Hinrich's two-year deal will pay him roughly $8MM, says K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. In that case, Hinrich will receive more than $3.09MM in year one, meaning the Bulls are using their full mid-level exception, hard-capping their 2012/13 team salary at about $74.3MM.
JULY 23RD, 12:33pm: The Bulls have officially signed Hinrich, the team announced today in a press release. Since Chicago couldn't work out a sign-and-trade with Atlanta, the deal is expected to consume the team's full taxpayer mid-level exception.
JULY 8TH: The Bulls have reached a verbal agreement on a deal with free agent guard Kirk Hinrich, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (via Twitter). While details are still being finalized, Hinrich is expected a receive a two-year, $6MM contract from the Bulls. Hinrich returns to the franchise that drafted him in 2003 after spending parts of the last two seasons with the Wizards and Hawks.
By adding Hinrich to their backcourt, the Bulls have given themselves more stability at the guard position with Derrick Rose on the shelf for at least a portion of the upcoming season. The former Kansas star averaged 6.6 PPG and 2.8 APG in 48 games during the 2011/12 season.
Bulls Notes: Rose, Asik, Belinelli, Gibson
In his latest piece for the Chicago Tribune, K.C. Johnson recalls a statement Bulls GM Gar Forman made less than a month ago, on draft night: "Our decisions this summer will be basketball decisions, not financial decisions." Based on the Bulls' moves so far this offseason, particularly with the team on the verge of losing Omer Asik and getting nothing in return, it's hard to argue that finances haven't been strongly considered, as Johnson writes. Here are a few Bulls-related updates from his column:
- Derrick Rose will "likely" be out until March, according to Johnson. We'd heard before that Rose probably wouldn't be back until the new year, but if the March ETA is accurate, that would mean the star point guard would miss most of the regular season.
- The Bulls still plan to clear major cap space for the summer of 2014 to be a player on the free agent market. Luol Deng's contract will expire that summer, and Carlos Boozer will likely be amnestied by then, leaving Rose and Joakim Noah as the only big investments left on the team's books. If Chicago is hoping to clear enough space for a maximum-salary player that summer, it's a little easier to understand why the club wouldn't want Asik's $14.9MM salary for 2014/15.
- Speaking of Asik, the Bulls still haven't officially informed the Rockets of their decision on the center's offer sheet, but league sources tell Johnson that Rockets management believes Houston will land Asik.
- The Bulls "appear close" to signing Marco Belinelli, as we heard on Friday. As Johnson points out, spending the bi-annual exception on Belinelli would hard-cap the Bulls at about $74.3MM this season, and with payroll already approaching that figure, I'd be surprised if the team imposed that kind of inflexibility on itself. We'll see if the Bulls can land Belinelli for the veteran's minimum instead.
- Extension negotiations for Taj Gibson are "next on the docket" for Chicago, says Johnson.
- Johnson adds that one factor to watch this year as the Bulls weigh "basketball decisions" and "financial decisions" is whether the team spends the $5MM trade exception acquired in the Kyle Korver deal.
Poll: Should Bulls Match Asik’s Offer Sheet?
Earlier today, it was reported that the Bulls are expected to pass on matching the three-year, $25.1MM offer sheet that Omer Asik signed with Rockets. Houston managed to land the restricted free agent with a gameplan eerily similar to the one they used to ink Jeremy Lin. While the Bulls made it known publicly that they planned on matching any offer, it turns out that the hefty, backloaded deal was too rich for their blood.
Are the Bulls making a mistake by letting the 7'0" center walk? Mark Potash of the Chicago Tribune certainly doesn't think so. Potash writes that the $15MM cap hit that Asik would carry in the final year of the contract would loom over the team and simply wouldn't be worth it for a player who is as offensively challenged as Asik. While the Turkish big man shines in the low post defensively, he averaged just 3.1 PPG in 14.7 minutes per contest which would translate to 7.6 PPG per 36 minutes. Of course, it's hard to imagine Asik seeing that much playing time as he is firmly entrenched as a member of the club's second unit.
Still, even Potash admits that Asik's presence will be missed when the Bulls go head-to-head with the Heat. And while the Bulls found a suitable backup in Nazr Mohammed, it's hard to imagine the club getting similar output from him. It's your turn to weigh in – are the Bulls making a mistake in letting Asik go?
Should The Bulls Match Asik's Offer Sheet?
-
No 88% (1,654)
-
Yes 12% (215)
Total votes: 1,869
Raptors In Serious Talks With John Lucas III
SATURDAY, 9:20pm: Lucas has received a two-year, $3.0MM offer from the Raptors, with the second year of the contract being a team option, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports.
WEDNESDAY, 4:46pm: The Raptors are "in serious talks" with John Lucas III, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. According to Stein, Toronto is close to a deal to sign Lucas away from the Bulls, with Chicago resigned to losing the 5'11" guard.
The Raptors have been considering signing a third point guard to play behind Kyle Lowry and Jose Calderon, and perhaps become Lowry's primary backup if Calderon is traded. While Lucas is hardly a big name, he had a quietly effective season for the Bulls in 2011/12, as we noted earlier today in our list of top remaining free agents by PER. The 29-year-old's 16.3 PER puts him second among available point guards. Lucas also averaged 7.5 points and 2.2 assists in 14.8 minutes per game, all career highs.
Central Rumors: Bynum, Scott, Greene, Scalabrine
The Cavs and Bulls have been in the news a lot lately, with talk of a three-way trade that would send Andrew Bynum to the Cavs dominating headlines in Cleveland while the Bulls await the arrival of the offer sheet Omer Asik signed with the Rockets. The Cavs also claimed Jon Leuer off waivers today, while the Bulls are in advanced talks with Marco Belinelli and reportedly pursuing E'Twaun Moore. We've got more on these two busy Central Division teams here:
- Cavs coach Byron Scott denies having a close relationship with Andrew Bynum, which has been cited as a reason why a trade sending Bynum to Cleveland would work, Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Plain Dealer reports. "I don't know who wrote that, but I've read that as well," Scott said. "No, we're not very close. We're not very close at all."
- Donte Greene is in conversations with a few teams, but hopes to sign with the Bulls, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com. The team has yet to make him an offer, Howard-Cooper adds. The Kings declined to tender a qualifying offer to the 6'11" forward in June, making him an unrestricted free agent.
- Free agent Brian Scalabrine will not be back with the Bulls next season, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune notes at the bottom of a larger look at the team's offseason.